FIELD OF THE INVENTION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE BACKGROUND ART
This invention relates to a measuring device accessory which can be attached to standard measuring tapes, permitting gravity assisted deployment of the measuring tape.
In the field of building and the field of assessment of structural damage to buildings, it is often necessary to have accurate measurements or surveys of roof dimensions. Likewise it is often difficult and dangerous work to acquire these measurements. There are two well known techniques, one makes use of a wheeled measuring device with a stick handle and a counter such as a Rolatape TM or a Redi-measure TM, the other method makes use of an ordinary measuring tape or surveying chain. Both methods require the surveyor to walk to the boundaries of the roofs. It is general knowledge for those who work in the field that a weight of some sort can be attached to a tape measure and thrown or jiggled to help get the tape measure towards the roof edge. The inventor of this measuring device, having heard of round weights fixed to a tape end, fabricated a tape deployment aid which consisted of a rubber ball fixed by a swivel attachment to a tape measure, and experimented with the device for several years. In use this first device was gently teased or jiggled down the roof surfaces and required quite a lot of careful sideways motions to get the tape measure to the edge of the roof. The present invention relates to a new and improved deployment device which is easily attached to a standard tape measure and which greatly simplifies the task of acquiring roof measurements safely, rapidly and accurately without causing the tape to twist or slant. The present invention also relates to methods for using this measuring device.
The prior art comprises U.S. Pat. Nos. by Nosek 4,970,802, Stabs 5,038493 and Han 5,056,234, and Brucher et al. 5,167,165, each of which is hereby specifically incorporated by reference for all disclosed therein.
In the prior art there are numerous wheeled measuring devices such as seen in Nosek U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,802. These wheeled devices have been used by surveyors and others for many years. The measurements attained by these devices, when used to measure roof dimensions, are not as accurate as those attained by using steel tape measurements, and using wheeled devices on roofs is inherently unsafe, requiring the surveyor to traverse the entire roof and travel all the way to the edge of the roof.
Also in the prior art are numerous attachments to levels and tape measures which are job specific, like that shown by Stabs U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,493 which has a "sensing head pivotally secured to one end of an elongate measuring rod". Additionally, there are numerous patents for tape measures with magnets, hooks, corner braces allowing for one person to take measurements alone, or to take measurements from corners.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,234 by Han is a roofing tile course marking device. This patent also makes use of a steel tape measure with a "gripping means" that is attached manually to the end of the roof.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,165 by Brucher et al. is a device for positioning a measuring element that is motor driven and that "moves in planar and circular movements in addition to the commonly performed pivoting movements."
The above references are all for measuring devices of various types, some of which can be used for measuring roof dimensions. The present rolling and swiveling deployment aid for attachment to a tape measure or surveying chain differs from the prior art by allowing for measurements to be attained by a single individual, with speed and accuracy, and without having to walk down the sloping sides of a roof or lean over the edge of a roof.